I've been googling for love poetry, nice inspirational prose and quotes to put together in a handwritten collection as a wedding gift for my cousin getting married in China this October.

Some things, I might ask my Dad to translate into Chinese for them. Some things (like Robin Hood and Maid Marian or Shakespeare exerpts), we'll probably leave alone. Maybe I'll do some of it in my blorpy calligraphy. Maybe not. I'll have to pore over Shakespeare sonnets in the next little while, very slowly. I might even stick in some exerpts from plays if I can find one that I like.

This is the problem with having wealthy relatives. What the hell can you gift a wedding couple with that is meaningful and won't require a second‍ mortgage?

Not sure what Mom and Dad think yet, but I have a suspicion that the traditional red envelope isn't going to work too well here. Out of respect, they're not going to take money from us... and we probably won't be able to afford the amounts that would be big enough to make an impression. And anything I buy from here is Made in China anyway. XD

So, I thought about buying a small handmade or suitably nifty-looking notebook and filling the‍ pages with quotes, love poetry and marriage advice in it by hand... anything that I come across that's meaningful and inspiring.

I don't know what their English abilities are. Even if they can't read, I hope English language stuff is still considered "cool" in China. I hope it's unique enough for that high-and-mighty factor. And if Dad thinks it's a dumb idea, then I'll keep the book for myself. I would have been moved to tears to receive something like this for my wedding, but I don't know the bride and groom too well.

The opener is going to be from the Taking of the Hands from my wedding, tweaked a little for the occasion. I think I'm going to ask my Dad to translate this one thing.

Hold Hands

If there is one piece of marital advice I can give you, it is this: hold hands often.

The hand each of you offers is an extension of the self. Cherish the touch, for you touch not only your own, but also another life. Be ever sensitive to its pulse. Seek always to understand and respect its rhythm. Take each other in gentleness and warmth.

Hold hands so that you may see the gift that they are to you. These are the hands that will express passion, gentleness, and strength for you. These are the hands that will countless times wipe the tears from your eyes: tears of sorrow, tears of joy. These are the hands that will comfort you in illness and grief, and will support and celebrate with you in happiness. These are the hands that, when joined with yours, will help both of you fulfill your greatest dreams and weather the greatest disasters.

May your hands always be held by one another. May they have the strength to hold on during the storms of stress and the dark of disillusionment. May they remain tender and gentle, as you nurture each other in your love. May these hands continue building a relationship founded in trust and rich in caring. May you always see each others' hands as those of healer, protector, shelter, and guide.

[Update]

Nope. Red envelope it is. ={ I'm disappointed, but it's a case of When In Rome. Dad knows them better than I do. Ah well... I can just collect poems and things that I like. It can be as weird and wonderful as I please if it's just for me.

I'd be really interested to see what you come up with. For a while now, I've been kind of bummed about the low quality of the Chinese translations of English poetry that I've seen. (The converse applies, too - but the relatively high quality of E-C literary translation in other areas makes the suckage of poetry translations a surprise.) Shakespeare's represented generally decently, but the translations of Frost and Heaney that I've seen - I pick them as my samples since I think they're aesthetically most in line with Chinese poesy - have been just wince-inducing: inelegant, inaccurate, and in some cases flat-out wrong.